The Bookstore trip
by LavenderSkyline
Summary: Natsuki and Yuri go to a bookstore together in attempt to find a book from the other's preferred genre. They find something more than that. Oneshot, please R&R! T for mild innuendo.


"I'm glad to see you could make it."

Yuri stood outside of the doorway to the bookstore. It was a warm day, though there was a pleasant breeze blowing. It was the type of weather that comes at the end of spring and at the beginning of autumn - oddly perfect, though you know it won't last.

Natsuki turned her head to avoid eye contact. "My dad is working late tonight, and I have nothing better to do, so..." Yuri fought the urge to smile at her defensiveness.

"Shall we go in? I've thought of a few books we could look at." Yuri asked. Natsuki gave a short nod in response.

When the two were inside, Natsuki instantly dashed for the manga section. Yuri didn't want to run, but she thought she would lose her in the store if she kept a walking pace. Though, deep down, she knew Natsuki wasn't leaving the manga section.

"What are you doing?" Yuri asked the moment she caught up with Natsuki, who was sitting with her back to the wall, casually reading as if this were her home. She tilted the book upward so Yuri could see the title.

The cover of the book featured four animated girls with neon-colored hair posing together, looking cheery. It took Yuri a second glance to realize there was an anxious-looking man in the center of them - he was simply so bland in contrast to the girls, he almost faded into the background. For a protagonist, he was truly as plain as you could get - Black hair, brown eyes, tan skin, a white shirt, and blue/grey jeans.

Natsuki patted the ground beside her, indicating for Yuri to sit down. She followed the gesture and sat next to her, peering over the small girl's head to see the page better, which also featured the girls.

"What's this book about?" Yuri attempted to start a conversation between the two of them. It wasn't that she disliked the silence. She just, secretly, wanted to learn a bit about the book.

"This regular guy starts working at a café with four of his classmates, and he likes all of them. Kind of a generic plot for a manga. But I don't think you read any." Natsuki closed the book and set it in her lap.

Yuri picked the book up from Natsuki's lap and flipped through the pages, settling on a random one in the middle. But when she reopened it, she quickly looked away. Natsuki noticed and stared at the page, before breaking into a smile.

"Artists sometimes like to put those in, because there are a lot of readers who get crushes on different characters. I just...ignore it." Natsuki said. Yuri glanced back at the girl on the page - she was doing her best to cover her breasts as the main character walked into the bathroom while she was taking a shower. She didn't feel any less uncomfortable.

"She has a very...um...large chest." Yuri continued to look at anything other than the paper.

Natsuki felt the perfect comeback rise up in her throat. The thought screamed in her head. "_So do you!"_ Yet, for once, she stifled it down, and simply nodded.

"We should go check out the other sections now." Yuri said, standing up.

The girls walked to the shelves filled with thick, angsty books. "I'm not reading anything that's like...3,000 different ways to say the word sad." Natsuki said, crossing her arms. Yuri chuckled and shook her head slightly.

Yuri scanned the titles available on the bookshelves. Natsuki didn't know how many Yuri had read, exactly, but from the way Yuri was looking at them, she guessed most of them.

"How about this one? It's a shorter read, and I'm currently reading it myself." Yuri selected a thinner book from the shelf and handed it to her. Natsuki opened it to the first page.

"Why do people use this kind of writing? It's so complicated."

"What do you mean?"

"The words are just really long. I don't get why we should have these words when we can easily communicate with a..._simpler _vocabulary." Natsuki skimmed the first few lines of the page halfheartedly.

"Words often have history behind them. They're very interesting to learn about. More complex words tend to be more descriptive as well." Yuri responded.

There was a moment of silence between the two. Natsuki wasn't reading, which Yuri became aware of when she stopped looking at the page. She was lost in thought, about God-knows-what.

"What are you planning on writing tonight?"

"Huh?" Natsuki snapped back into focus. "Oh. I had an idea, but I'm not sure it would work." She looked away, but Yuri's expression seemed to say "go on".

"It was more of an idea for a theme. I thought I could write a poem about something loss, or something..." Natsuki's voice trailed off, and she seemed to sink back into her own defenses for reasons even Yuri couldn't explain with words.

"That sounds like a good idea, but...do you mind?" She asked Natsuki, who nodded. "That sounds like a good idea, but I would recommend changing your writing a bit. While simplistic writing styles are fun to read, if you're dealing with a topic as heavy as loss, you might want to consider a broader vocabulary."

Natsuki didn't know how to respond to Yuri's criticism. She felt like she should be angry, but she wasn't, and wasn't sure how to exactly respond. She ultimately decided on a bit of criticism of her own.

"I'll try to do that...but for your next poem, could you write more...simply? Poetry is supposed to be fun, but it's not fun when you have to flip through a dictionary to translate one line after another."

Yuri smiled. She always thought Natsuki's comebacks were amusing, though she had to admit, when she was trying to make them sound nice it was more fun to watch. "Sure. I'll look forward to reading yours tomorrow."

The two lost track of time talking about things they hadn't envisioned casually speaking to each other about, considering the rocky road of their relationship. School. The literature club. Homework. Afternoon plans.

"Natsuki, have you noticed anything...off?" Yuri said, making the conversation take an odd turn.

"What are you talking about?" Natuki asked.

"It's...odd. Do you remember much before I became vice president of the literature club?" Yuri fidgeted with her hands.

"Of course I do. Once again...what are you talking about?"

Yuri sighed. "It's strange. It feels like there's a time of my life I'm forgetting. The past few weeks have just felt like a blur. I hardly remember them. And then...I became vice president, and time slowed again."

She suddenly jolted upward again, nearly making Natsuki jump. "I apologize. I...phased out." Yuri seemed to cower, hiding her flustered face.

Natsuki didn't know what to say, so she looked to the clock, only to see an hour had passed since they'd arrived at the bookstore. She suddenly became very interested in the book in her hands she didn't know quite what to do with.

"Here, I have an extra copy of this book. I'll lend it to you tomorrow, and you can return it when you're done reading." Yuri took the novella from Natsuki's hands and slid it back into its place on the shelf.

The girls walked out of the bookstore empty-handed, but felt content anyway.

"Today wasn't...that bad." Natsuki said, avoiding eye contact, as always. Because if Yuri looked her in the eyes, she might let the truth slip - that she had a good time, and that she had wanted to be closer to Yuri.

She wasn't sure why she insisted on putting this wall between herself and others, but she knew she did. At least people she was close to always knew her insults were white lies.

"Honestly, I was praying it wouldn't result with us fighting. I'm glad it didn't." Yuri said, smiling.

They walked home together in the oddly perfect sunshine, hoping their unspoken friendship would last longer than the weather.

**Hello everyone - thank you for reading this story. I haven't written in a while, and my old work makes me cringe a little bit now...**

**I'd appreciate it if you could review - mainly so I don't have this reaction to future works, lol. As always, thanks for reading! **

**(This story has been extended upon request. Thanks, guys!)**


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